National Research Center for Women & Families

The Cancer Prevention and Treatment Fund is the new name for all the work the National Research Center for Women & Families does to help adults and children reduce their risk of getting cancer and to make sure that everyone gets the best possible treatment.

Ensuring the Safety of Medical Products. In 2007 and 2008, NRC effectively sought the improvement of FDA regulatory authority over unsafe medical products. 

National Approach to Reducing Childhood Obesity. With the support of a generous planning grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, NRC was able to reach out to women's and girls' organizations to discuss strategies for fighting the childhood obesity epidemic. 

Click here for more information on NRC projects.

Past Projects: 

Girls and Adolescents

Early Puberty. NRC is working with other researchers, the media, and policy makers to call attention to the increase in early puberty among girls in the U.S. Our analyses will provide information about the likely environmental causes and the potential consequences for girls' mental health and safety.

Health and Health Care

Breast Cancer Public Education Campaign. Because many women diagnosed with breast cancer do not have all the facts they need to get the treatment that is best for them NRC is working to raise the awareness of this issue. NRC's campaign, targeted at patients and doctors, has resulted in stories on TV, newspapers, and Web sites.

Breast Implants. NRC's analysis of all published research shows that the studies by manufacturers of breast implants did not evaluate long-term safety. NRC writes articles on the safety record of implants, testifies before the FDA, meets with breast cancer groups and talks to the media.

"Using Research to Inform Patients of Breast Cancer Surgery Options." A conference scheduled for September, 2001, will bring together experts representing health professionals, researchers, and patient advocates, to develop strategies to increase the likelihood that women who are newly diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer will be accurately informed about their surgical options (and related treatment such as radiation). We will focus primarily on information about different kinds of mastectomies, breast-conserving surgery, and radiation.

Law/Legal Issues

Policy Forums and Capitol Hill Briefings. In March 2001, NRC held the first Senate Policy Forum on Women and Families, featuring the new women senators. The policy forum was held in the U.S. Senate. Other policy forums and Congressional briefings are planned for 2001 and 2002.

NRC staff members have participated in Congressional briefings and public meetings with executive branch officials on a range of topics, including food safety, improving research on the impact of medications taken during pregnancy, and the safety of medical products.

Violence Against Women and Girls

This year (1994), NRC worked to help pass the Violence Against Women Act, and has been working to ensure that Congress improves and extends the Child Abuse Prevention Act by lobbying and testifying before congress.

Women and Girls with Disabilities

Blind Adults and Children. NRC is completing a study of the experiences and unmet needs of blind adults and children in the U.S., with special attention to the growing number of elderly blind women who are living alone.

Aging

Social Security Reform: An Issue for Women in 2000, Diana Zuckerman. This article was carried on the Knight Ridder newswire, to newspapers across the country in January 2000.

Health and Health Care

Zuckerman, Diana, Anisha Abraham. 2008. Teenagers and Cosmetic Surgery: Focus on Breast Augmentation and Liposuction. Journal of Adolescent Health.

Calling for Informed Consent on Silicone Gel Implants or an End to Sales, Diana Zuckerman. Published in the March 2001 issue of MAMM: Women, Cancer, and Community, Point of View column.

The Need to Improve Informed Consent for Breast Cancer Patients, Diana Zuckerman, Ph.D., Journal of the American Medical Women's Association, 55, 285-89.

Women Can't Count on the FDA: The Agency's Approval of Saline Breast Implants Jeopardizes Lives and Ignores Serious Problems, Patricia Lieberman. Published Thursday, June 15, 2000, in the Los Angeles Times, page B11.

Violence

What is to Blame for Youth Violence?: The Media, Guns, Parenting, Poverty, Bad Programs, Or..., Diana Zuckerman, Ph.D. Article based on a Research Watch column by Diana Zuckerman, in the March 2001 issue of Youth Today. Youth Today is a publication of the American Youth Work Center in Washington DC.

Newsletter - The Voice for Women & Families.

Our newsletter, The Voice for Women & Families, is mailed to donors and is available on our website. It provides useful health information on topics such as stress, weight loss, toxic chemicals in tuna fish, and hormone therapy.

Annual Report

Internship and Fellowship Opportunities